Jun 2023

Video about the Narcotics Arrest Diversion Program

Ashna Arora Jordan Bellquist Daniel Avila Jacob Miller

This video provides an overview of the Crime Lab’s evaluation of the Narcotics Arrest Diversion Program, a program implemented by the community behavioral health provider Thresholds.

In this program, individuals eligible for diversion are connected with a substance use counselor, are released without criminal charges, and face no threat of future prosecution related to the arrest.

Early findings of the study show that the program successfully engages participants in treatment and significantly reduces re-arrest rates, demonstrating that a sanction-free response to the opioid crisis can work at scale to help make cities safer and healthier.

NADP is a partnership between the Chicago Police Department, the Chicago High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, the Chicago Department of Public Health, and Thresholds.

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Transforming Criminal Justice Responses to Substance Use: Impacts on Crime, Housing, and Health Outcomes

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This paper evaluates the impact of diverting individuals who possess drugs away from arrest and into substance use treatment in Chicago between 2010-2022.

Agent-Based Model of Combined Community- and Jail-Based Take-Home Naloxone Distribution
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Agent-Based Model of Combined Community- and Jail-Based Take-Home Naloxone Distribution

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This paper outlines the impact and cost-effectiveness of naloxone distribution, particularly for people facing criminal justice involvement.

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Brookings Institution Commentary: Making the invisible epidemic visible
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Using new data from a large urban trauma center in Chicago, we document substantial under-reporting of domestic violence at the time of receiving medical care.

Latest Updates

Jens Ludwig — Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence
Event
Politics and Prose Bookstore
May 2025

Jens Ludwig — Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence

Join Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig for a book talk and signing at Politics and Prose Bookstore at Union Market in Washington, DC for his upcoming book, “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.”

Jens Ludwig and Chief Bill Scott: The Unexpected Origins of Gun Violence
Event
Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California
Apr 2025

Jens Ludwig and Chief Bill Scott: The Unexpected Origins of Gun Violence

Join Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig for a book talk and signing at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, CA for his upcoming book, “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.”

Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence
Announcement
UChicago Crime Lab
Apr 2025

Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence

Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig authored a book that argues the lack of progress in reducing gun violence ultimately stems from our having misunderstood the nature of the problem, and that behavioral science gives us a new way to understand – and solve – gun violence in America.